Rage: Aang's Other Side
by oreocheesecakes
Summary: To Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin, Aang had always been a fun-loving goofball of a dad, the peacemaker in the family. But when tension arises, and they find out exactly what an enraged Avatar is capable of, they're in for a wild ride. A multi-chap family story, peppered with some action, adventure, angst, suspense, and a bit of Kataang fluff :D
1. A Regular Day on Air Temple Island

**A/N: This first chap is pretty long, but that's because it's heavy with descriptions to set up the story. I just want you guys to get to know my interpretation of Dad Aang, Mom Katara, and their kids a bit better. The next chapters will be more focused on the plot, and relatively shorter. :)**

**I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

***I included LoK in the disclaimer 'cuz Kya, Bumi, Tenzin, and Air Temple Island were mentioned in only that show.**

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Kya, Bumi and Tenzin knew all about their parents' power. For crying out loud, their father was the _Avatar,_ the master of all four elements, the man who stopped Phoenix King Ozai from conquering the world, the one who restored and maintained balance between the four nations, or as they were called now, the United Republic of Nations.

And their mother was Master (or Lady, as she was sometimes called, being the Avatar's wife) Katara, the best waterbender and healer in the world. One of the things that made her stand out was her prodigious skill in both combat and in healing; due to the traditions in the North Pole, most waterbenders were trained in only one of the two. It was ironic, actually, that she had the ability to both ease and inflict pain on anyone she wished.

However, the family lived in a time of peace, the peace their parents, along with their friends, had worked so hard for. The only bending they saw from their Dad was . . . rather simple, though clever and practical. Aang used his mastery of the elements not only to bring peace to the world, but to make everyday things easier. He used airbending to put out the candles, dry up the boys when Kya waterbended them, give the kids a little help when they tried to fly a kite, chase after them when it was bed time (eventually using his air scooter sometimes), and to cool them off. He earthbended benches to sit on, forts and sand/earth dummies for the kids to practice on, and to create a miniature zoo as a birthday gift for Bumi once. He used firebending to start a fire in their fireplace, to heat water, and to light the candles. He didn't waterbend much, well, in the kids' sight, at least. He only did so to help his wife, and she rarely needed that.

Their mother used waterbending to give them a bath when they were little, cool their drinks, fish, cook, and, occasionally, give the kids an ice skating rink in the middle of summer. And when one of the kids got hurt, say, scraped a knee after some roughhousing, she healed them in the flick of a lemur's tail. She did the same with her husband.

They had heard how their parents, along with Uncle Sokka, Aunt Suki, Aunt Toph, and Uncle Zuko, had saved the world. From history class, from their friends, their friends' parents, their parents' friends, and of course, from the heroes themselves. They knew that their parents could kick some serious butt, though they had never actually _seen _them fight. So there was no way to prepare them for what they were about to witness.

It was a regular day on Air Temple Island.

"MOOOOOMMMM!" someone yelled.

Katara, who was in the kitchen steaming fish and stewing vegetables for lunch, sighed. Her kids were at the bickering stage, and she wasn't enjoying it much.

She tried to ignore the first yell; there were times, though rare, that the children were able to sort it out by themselves. So she resumed cooking. The fish was almost done; she had to keep an eye on it. She wiped away the sheen of sweat that had gathered on her forehead using her sleeve.

Nowadays, she wore a blue Water Tribe outfit with fur lining at the hems. She didn't carry her waterskin around anymore; she lived on an island and there was no one after anymore. But even if this was the case, she and Aang still had training sessions every month or so, just so they wouldn't get rusty. This wasn't how she kept her lean and fit stature, however; she had discovered that being a mother was more physically draining than any fight.

She wore her brown-black hair down; with all the trouble the kids made, she had often found her braid coming apart before the day ended. The rest of Team Avatar teased her about it, wondering why her braid almost always stayed together in the old days, considering the fact that they were being hunted down.

She still kept her hair loopies, however. Like Sokka had said, it was a part of her identity, as with her mother's necklace and the betrothal necklace Aang had made her a couple of years after the war had ended. She smiled, remembering; though she was happy with her present life, she sometimes missed the action-filled, suspenseful, on-the-go life she had when she was fourteen. There were times when she thought that taking care of kids was more stressful than being on the run.

This was one of those times.

"MOOOOOMMMM!" the voice yelled again. Katara thanked the spirits the food was done cooking. Making good use of her waterbending, she encased the fish in hot water and transferred it to a waiting porcelain bowl. She did the same with the stew.

"MOOOOMMMM!" Katara hurriedly went outside, though she wasn't eager to find out what the problem was _this _time.

The kids were in front of the pond. 10-year-old Kya was pouting, her hair windblown (in a very unflattering way) and a bruise on her right arm. 6-year-old Tenzin had a black eye and a red mark on his cheek, and 8-year-old Bumi was dripping wet.

Katara groaned. _Not again, _she thought. It didn't exactly help that two of her kids were benders, and one was a warrior-in-training. Add that to the fact that the three had completely different personalities.

Her eldest and only daughter, Kya, was a headstrong and tough girl, sometimes reminding her of her good friend Toph Beifong. Like her namesake, she was fiercely protective of her family (though she also tended to pick fights) and extremely brave. She was a talented waterbender who had shown a significantly larger amount of interest in combat rather than healing. Kya believed that if she was good in combat, she couldn't get hurt; thus, there was little need for healing.

As for her second child, Bumi, Katara had always thought that he couldn't have been more appropriately named. He was just like Aang's friend; he was easygoing, loved to laugh and was always raring to go on an adventure. He loved cracking jokes (even those that no one found funny) and was incredibly inquisitive. Though he was a non-bender, he had made up for it with his knack for weapons and planning. Of course, his uncle was proud of him, and had even started teaching him how to be a warrior, "Sokka-style".

Tenzin, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of his two siblings. He was always calm and collected; rather serious, in fact. He was an airbender, but he was far from the goofy child his father had been. When it came to something or someone he felt strongly or cared deeply about, however, he had a relatively quick temper.

One of these someones was Lin Beifong, Toph's daughter. The adults had all noticed their close friendship, and Sokka and Zuko had already bet money on the two ending up together one day. Unfortunately, Team Avatar wasn't the only who had noticed, as Katara soon found out.

"Mom! Tenzin airbended at me!" Kya whined. Being the eldest, and a girl, she was naturally a tattletale.

"Kya water whipped me!" Tenzin countered.

"Only because you messed up my whole room looking for some stupid rock! If only you cleaned your room, none of this would have happened."

"I'm not cleaning anything until I get my special rock back," the airbender huffed stubbornly.

"And you're not getting it until you tell me whether or not you like Lin," Bumi told him, sticking his tongue out.

"Mom, Bumi's being mean!"

"Mom, Bumi stepped on my doll while running from Ten_,_" she complained.

The little warrior turned to her, defensive. "Well, I wouldn't have stepped on it if you didn't leave it lying on the floor."

"I DID NOT LEAVE IT LYING ON THE FLOOR! I put it on top of my dresser and Ten knocked it down looking for that rock." She shot a glare at her youngest brother.

"MOM-"

"ENOUGH!" Katara silenced them. The children backed up, scared to see their mother this way. And the fact that the water in the pond behind them was sloshing around violently. This, they had learned, meant that she was really mad.

"Let me get this straight, and correct me if I'm wrong. Tenzin couldn't find the rock Lin gave him because his a room was a mess, so he tried searching Kya's room instead. It turned out Bumi had the rock and wouldn't give it to Ten until he answered a question." At this, Tenzin turned even redder. "Tenzin chased Bumi around, and in the process, Bumi stepped on Kya's doll. You took the fight here to the pond, resulting in . . . this." She gestured at the three children. None of them contradicted her.

The master waterbender shook her head and sighed. "When your father hears about this—" she started, but a voice cut her off.

"When I hear about what?" Aang asked, appearing out of nowhere.

Over the years, Aang had grown up to be quite a looker; of course, he had always been cute (adorable, even, to Katara) as a boy. He was now much taller than his wife, and his face lost its boyish roundness, becoming more chiseled as he aged. He maintained his naturally lean build, though he became slightly more muscular. He usually wore airbender robes, though they weren't the same as the ones he wore as a teenager. They had been patterned after ancient paintings of airbenders that had been found in the ruins of the Air Temples. Clothes tailors from the four nations had worked to make it and presented it as a gift to the Avatar. Needless to say, he was overjoyed at the thoughtful present.

He had also started to grow a beard, much to the amusement of his friends ("Looks like Twinkletoes is finally becoming a man," Toph had said, smirking.). When he asked Katara about whether or not he should shave it, she had just laughed. Afraid to ask anyone else, especially his brother-in-law, he decided to keep it, though making sure it never grew more than a slight stubble.

The Avatar had his eyebrows raised in curiosity as he took in the scene: his wife frazzled, and the kids with various injuries.

"The kids got into a fight," she said, obviously tired. She then proceeded to explain exactly what had happened.

"Mm-hmm," he said, rubbing his slight beard, just as he did during council meetings. Katara trusted Aang's judgment; he was the Avatar, after all. He brought peace to the world. How much more to his three squabbling children?

"Kya and Tenzin, we've already told you, no bending at each other. And Bumi, no using the stuff Uncle Sokka teaches you against your brother and sister either." This caused each kid to pout. "Kya, you know better than to lose your temper over something like this."

Kya sighed. "I know, Dad. Sorry."

"Bumi, give Ten back his rock."

"Here you go, Ten." Bumi handed the rock to his brother.

"And Tenzin," The youngest looked up at him. "I know that being unorganized is an airbender's nature, but please do clean your room."

"I don't wanna clean my room," he whined.

"It's your room, and your responsibility, Ten. Unless, of course, you want to share a room with Bumi," Aang said slyly.

Tenzin gave his brother a quick glance, and his eyes widened in horror. "No thanks," he said quickly. "I'll go clean it."

"Let me heal your eye and cheek first, Tenzin. You too, Kya," their mother sighed.

The healer summoned a wisp of water from the pond and positioned it over Tenzin's eye. The water glowed and a few seconds later, Tenzin's eye had become noticeably less swollen and its color had returned close to normal. She did the same with Kya's bruise.

Meanwhile, Aang dried up Bumi with a blast of air. The three children muttered thanks and retreated back into the house.

Katara sighed as she watched the children walk away. "What are we going to do with these kids, Aang?"

"C'mon Katara, it's just a stage. I'm sure I wasn't the easiest airbender to raise." Katara smiled at that; she knew her husband had always been an incurable prankster. "And I bet the kids are just as hotheaded as you were at that age, too."

Half-teasing and half-annoyed, Katara waterwhipped him lightly on the arm. "Ow! Correction: as hotheaded as you are right now." This brought on a glare from his wife, so he tried to lighten the mood.

"You're just proving me right," he teased. "Loosen up, Katara."

Katara opened her mouth to say something, but her husband's signature goofy grin softened her, as always. "I guess you're right. It's just—who knew kids could be so stressing? Just imagine if Bumi was a bender as well," she shuddered.

"The more, the merrier," Aang shrugged. Katara responded with an eye roll.

"I think I should get back to preparing lunch. Sorry for having to disturb your Avatar work, sweetie," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "I know how stressful it must be to build a city. Dad sure had his hands full rebuilding the Southern Water Tribe."

"Hey, I have as much duty to my family as to the world, don't I?" He winked.

"The world's more important, Avatar," Katara smirked.

"But you _are _my world," he responded, landing a light kiss on her lips.

Katara pushed him away with a playful shove. "You're such a sap," she laughed.

"And that's why you love me." He had on that adorable grin she loved so much.

She couldn't help but smile back. "True," she conceded. "All right, enough distractions. Back to your Avatar work and back to my cooking."

"But this is more fun," he whined. It was useless; the waterbender didn't waver one bit.

"Fine, fine," he said, wrapping his arm around her waist instead. They walked back to the house together.

"What's for lunch, by the way?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm making your favorite. Stewed sea prunes!"

"Katara!" he complained. "It's not funny."

"Oh, trust me, it is," Katara said, laughing. "But seriously, Aang, I still don't get why you hate that dish so much."

"I don't know, it's just so . . . ugh," he shuddered. "What _I_ still don't get is how you can eat it without gagging."

"Who'd have guessed that the Avatar would be afraid of a Water Tribe specialty?" she smirked. "If it came down to battling a whole army of rebels and eating ten bowls of sea prunes, which would you pick?"

"I gotta admit, I'm having trouble deciding."

"Seriously, Aang?"

"To be honest, yes. And, um, while were on the topic, were you serious about stewed sea prunes for lunch?"

"When have I ever not been serious?" She smiled sweetly at him.

"Katara, quit messing with me!" He started pouting like a three-year-old, much to his wife's amusement.

"And you said jokes didn't run in the family," she said, laughing again.

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**What do you think of the kids' personalities? And my take on the Avatar family in general? :)**


	2. What Happens When Dad Gets Mad?

**A/N: Here's Chapter 2. :D As promised, it's shorter, and more plot-related.**

**Btw, thanks for the reviews, fave and follows! They mean a lot to me :')**

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

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"Lunchtime!" Katara called from the kitchen.

The kids, of course, were there before she could say "flying bison". Tenzin was first, as usual, making use of his airbending, with Bumi following shortly. Kya, feeling she was too old for such childish things, came last.

"Seems you guys are hungry," their mother remarked with a smile. She never could stay mad at those three. "Must be from that fight you had earlier," she added slyly.

They all gave her sheepish grins before taking their respective places at the table, wanting to prove they were "good little children". Their mother knew this, of course, but didn't say anything. If they wanted to be on their best behavior, then who was she to stop them?

"Mom?" Bumi asked, as Katara was bending water into their glasses.

"Yes?"

"When you get mad, water splashes around, right?"

"That's right. It's because I'm a waterbender. Your Uncle Sokka used to be scared of getting me mad because the ice under his feet would crack," she recalled, laughing.

"How about Dad?" Kya asked.

"What about him?"

"When he gets mad, what happens?"

"Hmm," the waterbender said, pausing in thought. Images of Aang, wrecking havoc with his eyes and arrows glowing, ran through her mind. "Uh, I don't think you'd want to find out."

Naturally, the children's curiosity was only piqued. "Why not?" Tenzin asked.

"Well, because . . ." She couldn't think of an answer. The last thing she wanted to do was to scare the children by giving them the image that their Dad turned into some kind of destructive, glowing monster.

Right then, Aang showed up, riding an air scooter into the kitchen. Katara frowned in disapproval. Sometimes, she felt that she was actually taking care of not three, but four children.

"Really, Aang, how many times do I have to tell you? No air scooters in the house," she chided as he came to a stop.

"My apologies, ma'am. Walking would take too long, and I just couldn't wait to taste the lunch prepared by such a beautiful and talented cook," he explained, smiling charmingly.

Katara smirked. "Flattery isn't going to get you out of this, airhead."

"Airhead?" He raised his eyebrows. "Whatever happened to sweetie?"

"Don't try to change the topic. Misbehavior like that deserves a punishment, right, kids?" The three nodded, giggling, while Aang gasped in fake horror.

"You're getting nothing but sea prunes for lunch," she declared.

"What? No!" he exclaimed. "No, really, I'm serious. Don't do this, Katara," he begged, and she had to laugh at the desperation in his voice.

"Don't worry, sweetie. It's fish for me, Kya, and Bumi, and vegetables for you airbenders. But if you want something else, all you have to do is ask, you know," she said, winking.

"Not funny at all, Katara," he said sourly, making the master waterbender laugh again.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Kya exclaimed. Being a Daddy's girl, she immediately had his attention.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"When Mom gets mad, the water splashes around. What happens when you get mad?" Her blue eyes, just like her mother's, looked up at him, wide and expectant.

"Oh, when I get mad?" he said offhandedly, glancing at Katara. "Well . . ."

"Daddy, daddy, is it the same as what happens when Mom gets mad? Or is it scarier?" she asked, pulling at the hem of his robes.

He chuckled. "I wouldn't really say so. Your mother is definitely not someone to be underestimated. In fact, I'd say she has the temper of a firebender."

"Would you like another waterwhip, honey?" his wife asked sweetly.

The Avatar cringed. "See what I mean?" he said, making the three kids burst into giggles once again. Aang laughed along with them, and Katara couldn't help but do the same.

Bumi was the first to recover. "Wait, I have an idea!" Everyone quieted down to listen to what he had to say. "Since Dad earthbends a lot, I bet an earthquake happens!" Bumi exclaimed.

"Well, uh . . ." Aang trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"No, since Dad was born an airbender, he creates a tornado and causes a hurricane," Tenzin argued.

"Well, Dad firebends too, so maybe he launches a gigantic fireball!" Kya suggested. "Ooh, ooh, wait, _maybe _he breathes fire, just like a dragon! ROOAAAARRRR!" Soon, Kya was chasing her two brothers around the kitchen, roaring like a dragon.

"Kids, back to the table," Katara ordered them. She cast a concerned glance at Aang; she knew this was a sensitive topic for him. True enough, his mouth had become nothing more than a straight line and his eyes had lost their earlier playful light.

The children, however, paid no attention to her mother. Kya continued to chase the two, stopping only in surprise at the sound of an explosion.

"AAAHHH!" The three went from running around the kitchen to huddling together in an instant.

"Oh no, Dad really _did_ get mad," Bumi whimpered, frightened.

"No, he didn't. Shhh," Katara shushed them. She and Aang exchanged suspicious, worried glances.

"What do you think that was?" she asked her husband.

"I'm not sure." His brows furrowed.

An air acolyte came rushing in at that moment. "Avatar Aang! Lady Katara!"

"What is it?" Aang asked.

"There are Fire Nation rebels on the island!" the acolyte exclaimed. "I suspect they are Princess Azula's men."

"Princess Azula? Isn't she Uncle Zuko's evil sister?" Tenzin piped up.

"Yeah, the one who went crazy?" Kya added.

"I'm afraid so," their mother answered. She turned to Aang. "But how? Isn't she locked up in an asylum in the Fire Nation?"

"She is. But apparently, she has connections." he replied, his eyes narrowing. "We'll have to inform Zuko about this later. But for the meantime, we have to get these rebels off the island."

Katara nodded. "Kids, stay here. Mommy and Daddy will take care of this."

"But—" Bumi started, but his father cut him off. "No buts. Listen to your mother. Ling, watch over the children and make sure they're safe," he told the acolyte.

"Of course, sir," Ling bowed.

"Katara?" He turned to his wife, who nodded. They both darted out of the room.

"Just like old times, huh?" Aang joked.

Katara grinned. Leave it to her husband to lighten the mood. "What do you mean, old? That was only a few years back." She glanced back at their weapons shelf, which they had just passed. She saw her old waterskin, and, to her surprise, Aang's glider.

The Avatar rarely went anywhere without it. He was attached to it as Sokka was to his boomerang, and Katara knew that. "Aren't you going to get your glider?"

He slapped his forehead. "Right!" He almost turned back to get it, but the sound of another explosion stopped him. "There's no time. Besides, this will be the perfect chance to use that new move Zuko showed me," he said, grinning.

Katara raised her eyebrows, but only said, "If you say so."

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**[SPOILER ALERT] There's gonna be a battle scene next chap. I'm kinda nervous about it, since I've never written a battle scene before o_O**

**Anyway, what do you think about this chap? And give me your guess on what you think is "that new move" Aang was talking about. I'd love to hear your opinions :)**


	3. FMTs and Some Kick-Butt Bending

**A/N: Chapter 3, and my debut in the art of writing battle scenes! Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews, faves and follows, which I will refer to as RFFs from now on :D**

**Okay, the Action/Adventure/Suspense officially starts here. :) I'm sorry this took a while; I was supposed to upload it sooner, but I had a dreadful case of writer's block. :(**

**Btw, I wrote the previous chap before "The Search" came out, so the "Azula-sending-rebels" part might not be canon consistent . . .**

**To Al (Guest): Thanks for your review! Descriptions have always been my weak point, and to be honest, I've never been good with poetry xD But thanks for pointing that out; I'll do my best to improve on that :)**

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

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It took about a second for Aang to realize that the situation was not good.

There were about a hundred men, quickly making their way up the island. They were armed and some seemed capable of firebending. But the worst part was that there were about a dozen—he didn't know what to call them. They seemed to stay in the air with the use of large, rotating blades, and were clearly made of metal. One of them shot out a fire ball, which Aang quickly bended back, causing the flying metal thing to explode.

One down, 11 and an army more to go. This was going to be fun.

Aang's eyes narrowed. "Azula's been more active than we thought. She's recruited an inventor."

"How're you gonna bring down those er . . ." Katara fumbled for the right word. "What do you call those flying metal things?"

"Huh, I don't know. I guess we need Sokka and his witty nicknaming skills right now, don't we?" he grinned.

She grinned back. "Guess we _did _take those skills for granted." She glanced back up at the 'flying metal things' with a worried expression. "If only Toph were here, these things would be down in no time," she muttered wistfully. "Don't you think you need your glider for this?" She turned to him.

Aang shook his head. "There's no time to go back and get it. I'll just use that new move I was talking about for those FMTs."

"FMTs?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What? 'Flying metal things' is a mouthful."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. You take care of those . . . FMTs; I'll try to help you as much as I can." She then turned and sent a gigantic wave of water at the rebels nearest to the shore. "But I'll deal with these guys first." She drew two large tentacle-like water whips from the sea before running off into the battle. Aang watched her for a moment before shaking his head, smiling. His wife/waterbending sifu was one kick-butt waterbender, all right.

Another explosion shook him back into reality. "Right, right, that move Zuko taught me . . ." he muttered. He balled his hands up into his fists, put one foot forward and stood on slight tip-toe, just as he had been taught. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, concentrating his energy into his fists and feet. A few seconds later, fire blasted out of the ends of his limbs, shooting him upwards.

"WOOOOOHOOOOO!" he yelled in exhilaration, just like on his first time.

From the ground, Katara looked up and saw her husband shooting through the air, fire blasting out of his feet and fists. She didn't have to look hard for the crazy, I'm-having-the-thrill-of-a-lifetime grin she knew was on his face.

She shook her head; Aang was Aang.

A man holding a sword started running up to her from behind. She blocked the sword with an ice wall, which she swiftly unfroze and refroze to hold the mans legs to the ground.

"What do you want? Why are you attacking us?"She glared at him.

The rebel just glared back. "I don't have to tell you anything."

"You don't want to mess with me," she said venomously. The ice started to creep up his body.

"Don't waste your time on me, waterbender. You have other things to deal with," he sneered.

Katara looked around and saw that some more rebels had started to surround her. She let out a frustrated groan before gathering water and forming it into the Octopus Stance.

Meanwhile, Aang hovered near the FMTs. He had put out the fire from his hands, so he was now relying on the fire blasting out of his feet alone as he studied the strange things. "What I wouldn't give to be a metalbender right now," he said to himself. Maybe if he could somehow jam the blades . . . or destroy them.

He raised his hand to send a slice of air at the nearest FMT, but ended up doing a somersault instead. "Woah!" he cried. "Okay, next lesson from Sifu Hotman: how to bend while flying," he said after regaining balance.

Unfortunately, he had caught the attention of an FMT. It turned to face him and sent a fireball his way. Aang propelled himself to the right, barely dodging it.

To his horror, all of the other FMTs turned around as well. "Uh-oh."

He blasted himself across the sky in a panic. How was he going to take those things down? Maybe he should have listened to Katara and gotten his glider.

He made a sharp turn to the right before glancing back behind him. There were still some FMTs hot on his trail, but there were some that lagged behind, clumsily trying to change direction.

_Wait a minute, _he thought. _That's it! _He looked below him. He was right above the water.

Perfect. He was going to need Katara's help, though.

He looked back to see if they were all following him again before plunging down headfirst. As expected, the FMTs followed him. "Katara!" The waterbender looked up. "I need you to jam the metal blades!" Aang yelled.

Her blue eyes looked confused for a moment, then widened in understanding. She reformed her Octopus Stance into a tidal wave and rode on it to reach the shore (effectively washing away a good number of rebels). Aang glanced behind him; yes, they were all following him. He suddenly pulled up from the dive, causing four FMTs to crash into the sea. The rest continued following Aang.

Katara drenched the blades of those within her reach and froze them into blocks of ice, rendering them unable to fly. They too, fell into the water.

The few that she missed, however, continued to chase Aang, who had just landed back on the island. Without the flying to limit him, he sent an "airbending slice" (as Sokka would call it) at the FMTs, cutting off the propellers from the bodies.

He felt a pang as he watched the FMTs fall into the water and go up in flames. Being an airbender, he hated violence and destruction . . . but if there was one thing he hated more, it was the people he loved being put in danger.

He then remembered Katara, and rushed to help her.

Apparently, the rebels had decided that attacking her in groups from different sides was the best strategy. They came at her in threes in every direction, all at the same time. She did nothing, which made Aang start to panic. Just as he was about to interfere, she evaded the assault with a backflip, causing the men to run into each other. She then proceeded to freeze them in a gigantic block of ice.

A smile pulled up at the corners of the airbender's lips. _Seems like Toph isn't the only one who knows how to wait._

While she was doing this, however, a rebel came running at her. Aang bended a large rock at him, knocking him into the sea.

Katara looked up. "Thanks," she said, grinning.

He grinned back, then groaned, seeing more men coming. "Seriously, how many are they?"

"A lot, apparently. They're using numbers to make up for their lack of skill. They're trying to tire us out," Katara said.

They assumed their usual stance, back to back. Naturally, the rebels started to surround them.

Aang raised a cylinder made of earth and set it on fire. With each wave of his hand, a disk from the cylinder about half an inch thick was sent flying, each one knocking a rebel unconscious. Katara was doing the same, only she used ice instead of earth and didn't set it on fire (of course).

When their disks ran out, Aang sent a ball of air at an incoming group, knocking them to the ground. Katara trapped them in a prison made of icicles while Aang immobilized the others by trapping their limbs in earth.

"Firebenders incoming!" Katara said.

Aang turned and saw a whole battalion of firebenders closing in on them. Something told him that their simple traps weren't going to work, and those guys could melt right through Katara's ice prisons.

As if to prove a point, they sent a fireball at the two of them, which Aang extinguished just in the nick of time. "We're going to have to make use of the sea," he said. Katara nodded at him.

Aang raised his hands and concentrated. His hands trembled from the effort, but eventually he managed to raise the earth the firebenders were on with enough force to catapult them into the water. Meanwhile, another group sent a blast of fire at Katara. She protected herself by creating a wall of water before washing them away into the sea with a massive wave.

"I gotta admit, Aang, I missed the adrenaline rush," she remarked.

"It _is _pretty nostalgic," he agreed.

"And to think our last fight was years ago," she mused. "We still got it, huh?"

Aang scoffed. "Of course. We're talking about _Master Katara _and _Avatar Aang _here."

"True," she grinned.

The mood was broken, however, at the sight of another wave of rebels approaching.

"I thought that was the last of them," Katara groaned.

"Afraid not," Aang said regretfully, as he got ready to fight once again.

He was so busy holding the rebels off that he didn't hear the shrill voice. He didn't notice Katara leave his side, either.

* * *

**As for the FMTs, in our generation, we call them helicopters ^_^ **

**Regarding the "new move", it's not exactly new, but I noticed only Azula and Ozai used it in ATLA, and only Iroh used it in LoK. Hey, if they could do it, then why not the Avatar and Sifu Hotman? :D**

**I was going to include a flashback about Zuko teaching the move to Aang, but it turned out too long so I decided to make it into a one-shot instead. Watch out for it :D**

**For the waterbending moves, I mostly referred to Katara's battle with Master Pakku. And the episode "Crossroads of Destiny" for the Octopus Stance-turned-Tidal Wave thing.**

**The battle scene . . . too weird? Hard to imagine? Okay? Decent? Crazy? Trying hard? Inconsistent? Impossible? Please tell me what you think and point out anything you think needs editing. Feedback is much appreciated, as well as suggestions for improvement. :D**


	4. Troublemakers

**A/N: So I kinda noticed some canon issues. Apparently, Kya's supposed to be a healer and sort of a hippie, while in this story, she's the total opposite (I was actually thinking of Korra when I wrote about Kya.) Let's just say that she had a life-changing experience (hehe, life-changing field trip with Zuko? :))) sometime in the future which made her attitude change. Okay? Okay. :D**

**And THANK YOU SO MUCH for the RFFs! 3 They never fail to put a smile on my face :)**

**I admit, this was the hardest chapter to write so far. I had a hard time thinking of ideas for this one, and now I'm mentally drained. Ugh, I must've thought my brain dry x| The overwhelming sense of relief after finishing this chap . . . all right I won't keep you waiting :)))**

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

* * *

Meanwhile, the children were growing more and more restless under the acolyte's watch.

"Why can't we at least watch them from a window?" Bumi demanded.

Ling groaned in frustration. "How many times do I have to tell you, Bumi? It's too dangerous." Bumi and Kya exchanged an eye roll. Pfft, danger. "What if a rebel saw you?"

"We can handle it," Kya insisted. "I can waterbend, Ten can airbend, and in case you forgot, Bumi's REALLY good with a boomerang." She grinned.

The acolyte's expression soured, obviously remembering an encounter with the boy and the said boomerang. "I haven't forgotten," he said, and Bumi grinned with pleasure at the annoyance in his voice. "I know you children are talented, but you heard your father; I'm under strict orders to watch over you three and keep you safe."

"I'm worried about Mom and Dad," Tenzin spoke up, his lower lip trembling. "What if they get hurt?"

"Of course they won't, Ten!" Kya reassured him confidently. "Dad's the Avatar, and Mom's a master waterbender. They've both kicked Fire Nation butt when they were teenagers."

"The Fire Nation regrets its actions and strives to restore its honor by living in peace and harmony under the rule of Fire Lord Zuko," Ling said sharply. "Only fools like those rebels stay loyal to Azula."

Kya cringed. "Um, sorry . . . you're from the Fire Nation?"

He responded with a curt nod, and the waterbender chuckled nervously. "Just stating some history . . ." She turned back to her youngest brother to avoid the awkward situation. "Anyway, Ten, Mom's a really good healer, remember?" He nodded. "So if they get hurt—and I'm pretty sure they won't—then Mom will heal it before you can say 'seal jerky'!"

Tenzin made a face. "I don't eat seal jerky. It's meat."

"Right, airbender culture," she muttered. "Um, before you can say 'fruit cakes' then?"

"Hey, Mr. Acolyte!" Bumi called out. Everyone in the room turned to him, surprised at the suddenness.

Kya, realizing he had been quiet for an abnormally long time, eyed him suspiciously. It was unlike him to be silent for so long—unless he was planning something. True enough, she noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes; the glint she and Tenzin had both learned to watch out for, the glint when he was about to pull a prank.

Kya caught his eye, and his gaze flickered to something in front of her. She followed his eyes to an untouched bowl of stew.

"Yes?" The acolyte had an eyebrow raised.

"Well, you said you were under strict orders to watch over us, right? Then why don't you just watch over us while we're at the window?" he asked.

"Nice try, boy, but your father also tasked me with the job of keep you three safe, and putting you in the rebels' sight would be doing the opposite. I'm not as stupid as you think," he said haughtily.

"No, you're not stupid," he agreed. _I thought you were going to say that, _he thought, smirking. "But you must be hungry."

"As a matter of fact, I am, now that you mention it." Bumi winked at Kya, who grinned slyly.

"Have some stew then," he offered kindly.

"Why, thank you, young man, that's very—" The stew rose out of the bowl and hit him square in the face. Ling was left spluttering and trying to wipe the stew off his face.

Bumi burst into laughter. "Eat up, Ling!" He turned to his sister, who was also laughing. "Nice one! Now, c'mon, let's go watch our parents kick some Fire—er, rebel butt!" He grabbed his two siblings by their wrists and ran out of the kitchen.

"Bumi, are you sure about this?" Tenzin asked, trying to keep himself from tripping.

"C'mon! You're training to become an airbender. Don't you wanna see Dad's cool moves?"

"I do!" he grinned. Before Bumi knew it, his brother had given himself a boost using his airbending, and now it was him and Kya who were being pulled along.

"Sure didn't see that coming," Kya muttered when Tenzin stopped at their living room. She was feeling a bit dizzy.

"Are you kidding me? THAT WAS AWESOME, TEN!" Bumi exclaimed. The young airbender grinned, pleased.

"But it's time to see something even more awesome!" He dragged a chair over to the window and climbed up on it.

"I wanna see! I wanna see!" Tenzin scrambled up.

Kya opened her mouth to complain that they didn't leave any space for her, but eventually decided that grabbing her own chair would be faster and more spacious.

"Wow, those are _a lot _of rebels," Kya said upon joining them.

They were _everywhere. _But every time any of them started to get close to the house, they were either knocked unconscious by a tendril of water or frozen to the spot.

She grinned. She didn't have to guess who was close by.

"Look at Mom!" she announced, pointing at a blue figure outside. They watched as Katara washed away about ten men with a single wave of her hand. "I'm going to be able to do that someday," she bragged to her brothers.

"Where's Dad?" Tenzin asked. "I wanna see some airbending moves!"

"Over there!" Bumi pointed at a distant figure in red. "He's kinda far, so you can only see his robes. He's—"

"Where?!" He pushed forward hastily, almost knocking his brother off balance.

"Hey, watch it, Tenzin!" his big brother said crossly.

"He's not moving! What if he's hurt?" Tenzin was worried again.

"That's impossible. I'm sure he's just—" Kya was cut off by Bumi's sudden yell.

"Do you see Dad?! Do you see Dad?!" Bumi pointed wildly at the red figure, who was now zooming across the sky. "He's flying! Using fire!"

"How can he do that?" Tenzin sounded; he had thought only airbenders could fly.

"I don't know. But we gotta ask him later!" Bumi was jumping up and down. "Maybe he'll even give us a piggyback ride!"

Tenzin didn't seem too excited at the idea. "I'll just stick with a glider."

"Wait a minute, why isn't _Dad _using his glider?"

"It's in there!" Tenzin pointed at the wooden weapons cabinet. It was easy to see the long brown staff through the cabinet's glass door. "But Dad _always _brings it. He told me that a staff is an airbender's greatest weapon."

"I think he forgot it!" Bumi said. "I'm to give it to him. It's going to help him fight the rebels." He jumped off the chair and ran to the cabinet. He opened the glass door and carefully took out the precious staff.

"Oh no, you don't!" a wet and tasty-smelling Ling cried, running into the living room. "Avatar Aang and Lady Katara specifically told you to stay here!"

"Yeah, but _Avatar Aang_ needs this!" Bumi countered, waving the glider.

"Come back here!" Ling made a grab for him, but the boy was too fast; he landed .

"Can't catch me!" Bumi said cheerfuly. Ling got up from the ground and started chasing the boy around the living room, knocking down various pieces of furniture.

"You're in big trouble, you conniving child!"

"Um, I don't really know what that means, but I guess I'll take that as a compliment!" he said, jumping agilely over a table they had upturned. He looked at his siblings, who seemed to be at a loss. "A little help?"

Kya blinked. "Um, right. Hold on!" She drew out the stew that was still on the acolyte and bended it so that it was on the floor instead. Ling soon stepped on it and slipped, landing with a crash into some clay jars.

Bumi walked up to him. "Are you all right, Mr. Acolyte?" he asked. "Oh, cool, that rhymes." He grinned.

Ling could only respond with a half-conscious groan.

"Well, he's down for the count," Bumi said.

"Mom'll have to heal him up later. That bruise on his face doesn't look good," Kya observed.

"But he'll be fine," Bumi said dismissively. "Now come on, let's go give this to Dad."

Kya looked out the window. "Actually, Bumi, I think it's over."

"What do you mean it's over?"

"There's no one fighting anymore," Tenzin said. "Mom and Dad are just standing there."

"Oh." Bumi was disappointed. He had been given the chance to help, and he had missed it. "Guess Dad won't be needing this anymore. I'll just go put it back." He was about to walk back towards the cabinet when Kya gasped.

"Oh no!"

He turned around sharply. "What? What's happening?"

"There are more rebels! Lots of them," she said.

"I've got to get this to Dad!" He leaped off the chair and ran for the door.

"Wait, Bumi, some of them are-" Kya tried to say, but the little warrior was already outside. "-headed this way."

* * *

"Dad! Dad! You left your glider!" little Bumi yelled.

Katara felt something cold grip her heart when she heard the shrill voice. She immediately turned towards the sound of it, hoping it wasn't who she thought it was.

Unfortunately, there was Bumi, waving Aang's staff in the air and calling for his Dad. Her eyes widened in horror as a nearby firebender caught sight of him and started moving closer.

"NO!" she screamed. She quickly jumped on a wave of water, freezing it into a path of ice as she slid across it to get to her son faster.

Just as she scooped him up in his arms, something hit her on her left side. A hot, searing pain overwhelmed her, and a cry escaped her lips as she crumpled to the ground. She felt Bumi tumble out of her arms just as she hit the grass.

Then everything was black.

* * *

**The story's atmosphere is getting heavy :( I'll give you a heads-up: the mood is sort of going to be like this for the rest of the story, so lighthearted family fluff will have to be put on hold for a while. But don't worry, it'll make a reappearance sometime later :)**

**And in case you don't get Katara sliding across the ice, remember what she did in her final battle with Azula? While she was dodging the mentally unstable princess's fire blasts?**

**Leave a review for a mentally tired author? Please? :)**


	5. Rage

**A/N: The shortest chapter title, yet the most meaningful. **

**Okay, so this took a bit longer than usual due to uh, multi-tasking. I just finished my Sonny With A Chance fic (feel free to check it out if you're a SWAC fan! :D) and I had an idea for another ATLA one-shot (which I will be posting sometime soon). I also started reading Parlor Tricks by Lyralocke (yes, I know, I'm quite late . . . but time has no effect on her awesomeness :D)**

**Anyway, thank you thank you so much for the RFFs! I'm glad to see you guys were excited for this chap :D**

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

* * *

Aang was right in the middle of the battlefield when he heard a cry. He didn't have to think twice; only one voice could have pierced his heart like that.

"KATARA!" He instinctively started running towards the sound of her voice, clearing a path between the rebels with a strong blast of air. He forgot about the fight, the army, everything. His only thought was to reach her.

It took him only seconds (courtesy of both the adrenaline running through his veins and his airbending), but he stopped the moment he saw her. Or more accurately, them.

His heart sank. No, that wasn't the right term. It felt more like it had ripped apart. Bumi, Kya, and Tenzin were desperately trying to shake their mother awake, tears rolling down their faces. His wife was on the ground, part of her back and most of her left arm badly burned. Part of her long, dark hair was charred, as well as her clothes. She didn't seem to be breathing.

He was at her side in an instant.

"Dad! I—I was going to give you your g—glider and then a firebender was about to attack me so M—Mom saved me a—and . . ." Bumi didn't need to continue.

"Katara? Katara! Katara, please wake up," he begged, turning her so that she was facing him. It frightened him to see how pale and lifeless she looked. He felt for a heartbeat, a pulse: nothing. If there even was one, it was too late. He was no healer; Katara had always been there for them. She was the best healer in the world; it never crossed his mind to learn healing or to make sure another healer was on the island.

"Katara, please," he sobbed.

"D—Dad, is Mom gonna be all right?" Kya asked. Watery, puffy eyes looked up at him; blue, just like her mother's. Her mother's eyes which he would never see again.

He had looked into those ocean-blue eyes and gotten lost in them countless times. He had looked into them with such sincerity when he promised her that their children would never have to go through what they had: the pain of losing a parent.

He had looked into them when he promised that he would never let anything harm her. When he promised her a world of safety, security, and happiness.

He had meant every promise. And yet what had happened was the exact opposite.

He hated the rebels. He hated Azula. He hated Zuko for not keeping an eye on Azula.

But most of all, he hated himself.

He should have been there. He should have been more alert. He should have been faster. He should have listened to Katara and brought his glider. He should have made sure Azula had no way to round up an army of rebels. He should have . . .

It didn't matter. He was too late and Katara was dead, or at least as good as dead. He shut his eyes, and tears of anger, self-hatred, guilt, and misery ran down his face.

Katara was gone. And it was all his fault.

"D—Dad, I'm so s-s-sorry," Bumi's voice shook. "This is all my fault—Dad?"

The Avatar was shaking hard. His face was contorted in an expression Bumi had never seen on him before. Sure, he'd seen his father mad when he pushed Tenzin into the pond once and when he accidentally broke an ancient air nomad relic with his boomerang, but this—this was beyond anger. This was a whole new level. This was . . . rage.

"D—Dad?" Bumi asked, scared.

Aang's eyes snapped open, and the three gasped and backed away in terrified shock. Their father's friendly, playful gray eyes were gone and had been replaced with a glowing white light. The same happened to his arrow-shaped tattoos. The expression on his face was one of pure fury, emphasized by his tightly clenched jaw and intense glowing glare. The temperature dropped and everything suddenly became darker. The air around them started to swirl around violently, gathering into a ball that surrounded the Avatar, carrying him up.

"He's in the Avatar state!" someone yelled. The frightened rebels started to scatter.

Tenzin watched in an awestruck terror as his father, who was now some fifty feet in the air, started bending furiously. A tornado formed, and a number of rebels were sucked in. Some more were washed away by a tidal wave that made Katara's look nothing more than an innocent splash of water.

Aang spread out his arms, and Tenzin could see that they were shaking from the effort. Suddenly, the ground started shaking as well, A crack appeared, eventually widening into a fissure. He raised his arms, and lava rose up. The tornado deposited the men right there, leaving the poor rebels to hold on to the edge for dear life.

"Dad?" Tenzin whispered. This wasn't his father. His father would _never_ cause devastation like that. His father was a peaceful man, an Air Nomad, the Avatar; he created things, not destroyed them. What had happened to him? Why were his eyes and tatoos glowing? Was Mom going to be alright? And what was that Avatar State thing he heard someone yell a while ago? Was that why his Dad was acting different?

Maybe Kya and Bumi knew. His eyes scanned the area. Where could they—

"DAD! What's happening?!" someone yelled. He turned and saw Kya running up to as close as she could get to the enraged Avatar. He watched as her sprint turned into a trudge as the winds got stronger.

Unfortunately, no amount of sheer courage or determination could compare to an Avatar, least of all one at full power. The bold waterbender eventually had to give in, screaming as she got blown away.

"Kya!" Tenzin quickly ran over and cushioned her fall with his airbending.

"Boy, it sure is good to have an airbender for a brother," she said as she caught her breath.

He smiled weakly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Kya! Tenzin!" They looked around to see Bumi running towards them.

"Woah!" He dodged a fireball that had landed right next to him.

"Bumi! Are you okay?" Kya asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "You guys?"

"We're fine," she answered. "But Dad . . . and Mom . . ." Her voice shook.

"I know," Bumi said miserably. "Glowing Dad is scary. What are we going to do?"

Kya looked up, and, through her teary eyes, saw both her brothers watching her expectantly. "Why are you looking at me like that? You're usually the plan guy, Bumi," she said.

"Yeah, well . . . I got nothing." He rubbed the back of his neck.

She sighed. "Honestly, I have no idea what to do. But I guess we should make sure Mom's somewhere safe."

They nodded, though they knew that wouldn't really solve anything. Still, it was something to do, and it would provide a distraction, to some degree.

As they walked, Tenzin asked her, "Kya, do you think Mom is d—"

"I don't know, Ten."

They were quiet after that and instead focused on dodging the occasional fireball, jumping over an uprooted tree, and other "glowing Dad" related things.

They found Katara right where they had left her. She seemed to have been unaffected by Aang's bending, and Kya thought that it was no coincidence.

It was the sight of her mother that finally cracked her. She broke down and ran, falling to her knees beside her lifeless body.

"Mom . . ." she sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I'm the eldest; I shouldn't have let Bumi run out there. I'm sorry," she whispered, and gingerly closed her hand around her mother's unscathed wrist.

Kya was a gifted waterbender, and her mother had been training her well. She had excelled in combat and usually ignored her mother's attempts at teaching her how to heal. However, healing was innate, and no matter how much Kya denied it, Katara had always known that her daughter was a healer.

And so, it was instinct that told Kya that the very faint beating she felt was a pulse. She couldn't explain it, but somehow, she knew that her mother was alive.

With this knowledge, hope and determination renewed in her. She knew what to do.

"Bumi! Tenzin!" she called, and the two boys immediately ran to her. "Mom is alive. Just barely, but she's alive."

They gasped. "But there was no—"

"Healer's instinct," she said. Her mother had once told her something about a "healer's instinct." However, she didn't remember anything other than that (probably because she had tuned out everything Katara had said at the mention of the word "healer.")

Bumi looked at her incredulously. "I thought you said you weren't—"

"I _am_ a healer. It's in my blood." It was the first time she had ever admitted it, and the words sounded foreign to her. But she had never been so sure of herself before. "I have a plan. If we can get Mom to a pool of water, maybe she can heal herself."

"But what about Dad?"

"Mom might know what to do. She always does," she said, unwavering.

"Okay, but where do we take her?" Tenzin asked. "The bathroom?"

"That's too dangerous. Dad could destroy the house at any moment."

Bumi remembered their fight earlier that day, which had already seemed so long ago. "The pond. It's the nearest place possible. Also, it's behind a stone wall, which I think will give us enough protection."

Kya smiled at her younger brother. "Great thinking, Bumi! Now, you carry Mom by her feet, and I'll carry her by the head. Tenzin, could you use your airbending to support the middle?"

"Yep." He used a simple pushing move his father had taught him.

"All right, let's go."

Unfortunately, their father's fireballs had melted some of the ice prisons Katara had made, and a number of the rebels had been freed. "Bad guys!" Bumi exclaimed.

Kya's eyes narrowed. "Good, 'cuz I've been wanting to give them a piece of my mind." Without thinking, she let go of Katara's head and took off.

"Woah, woah, careful!" Tenzin exclaimed, catching his mother's head with some quick airbending.

"Yeah!" Bumi exclaimed, running off as well.

"Hey!" Poor Tenzin was left trying to support his mother's entire weight. He tried as gently as he could to set her down, then ran after his brother and sister.

"This is for hurting Mom!" Kya roared, taking down three rebels with a single waterwhip.

"This is for what you did to Dad!" Tenzin hurled random blasts of air at them, and eventually sent a mini tornado their way.

Meanwhile, Bumi had found his father's staff (which he had dropped when Katara grabbed him) on the ground. "You're going to regret ever showing your sorry faces here!" Bumi yelled, using it as a sword and knocking them down.

Soon, every rebel within five feet of them was either unconscious or frozen to the ground.

The three examined their work proudly.

"_Nobody _messes with the Avatar kids," Bumi stated.

"Or our parents," Tenzin added.

"You got that right, little bros," Kya smirked.

* * *

**Yes, the Avatar kids can kick some serious butt :)**

**So, I kind of made a headcanon based on this story. The part of the island that gets cut off by Aang's fissure will later become Avatar Aang Memorial Island. Yay! :D**

***sigh* Okay, that was random. It wasn't exactly well-thought out either, but oh well. Btw, credits to Avatar Kyoshi and the episode "Avatar Day" for the idea. ^.^**

**Tell me what you think of one of the (if not the most) pivotal chapter in this story. I don't really specialize in Aangst (No, I did not misspell that :))) so please tell me if the chap's okay :D**


	6. The Healer

**A/N: Once again, thank you for the RFFs! :D**

**Oh, and remember that one-shot I was talking about last chapter? It's called "Through Hakoda's Eyes." Feel free to check it out sometime :)**

**I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

* * *

They were able to get Katara to the pond without any more trouble. It was probably due to Kya's "do-you-really-want-to-fight-me?" look, Bumi's crazy smirk, or Tenzin's glare.

Or it could have been all three.

They set Katara down as gently as possible, mostly thanks to Tenzin. They then took a moment to take in the place, thinking how they had just been there that morning, and how different the circumstances and their priorities were now.

Kya bent down and checked on her mother's pulse. Thankfully, it was still there, although it was still weak. "All right, we have to get Mom's burns in the water," she said.

They carefully shifted Katara's position so that her burned parts were in the cool pond water.

"So, um, now what?" Bumi asked.

"Come on, come on," Kya muttered. A minute passed, then another.

Nothing.

"Kya, shouldn't something have happened by now?" Tenzin asked softly, breaking the tense silence.

"M—maybe we just have to wait," she stuttered, trying to hold back her tears. "It's barely been two minutes."

"Kya, it usually doesn't take this long for Mom to heal," Bumi said in the same quiet tone as Tenzin. "The water's not glowing and—"

"Well, of course it would take longer! She's half-dead, isn't she?" The two boys winced; she said the D-word. "How do you expect her to be all right in a second when she's unconscious and burned?" she snapped.

Bumi recoiled as if she had slapped him. Seeing his hurt, wide eyes and Tenzin's shocked, scared ones caused her to redirect the anger she was feeling at herself and at the world in general.

"I'm sorry, Bumi," she said, ashamed. "It's just—Mom—I—"

"I understand, Kya. We're all worried." He swiftly threw a glance at their mother. "This is my fault." He hung his head.

"No it's not, Bumi. If it's anyone's fault, it's either the rebels' or Azula's," she spit out.

"But if I hadn't run out with Dad's glider—"

"The past is past." The two older kids turned to their youngest brother, a bit shocked. Tenzin was usually the quiet one. "That's what Dad would say." He averted his eyes.

"Tenzin . . ."

"Kya, do you know what happened to Dad?" he burst out. "Why's he acting like this? You told me that if something goes wrong, Mom will heal him. But how will she when she can't heal herself? What's going to happen?" The questions shot out of his mouth like bullets.

They fell silent. Tenzin had just voiced out every question they didn't dare ask.

"To who, Tenzin?" Bumi asked quietly.

"To Mom! To Dad! To us! To everyone!" He threw his hands up, panicked. "What's going to happen? I'm scared." His voice broke at the last word. He sniffed and tears started to roll down his cheeks.

"It's going to be okay, Ten." Bumi went over and hugged him.

Kya looked at her two brothers. Tenzin had already cracked, and she could see that Bumi was trying to hold himself together for Tenzin's sake. For her sake.

She didn't blame him. She was doing the same for them.

"No it won't," Tenzin mumbled. He sounded older, nothing like the little brother she knew.

Something in his defeated tone fired up something in her, some kind of raging stubbornness and resolve. Tenzin was too young to be defeated, to give up, to lose hope. He was too young to be broken, to be devastated. He was too young to experience death of a loved one. What kind of monsters would do that to a little kid?

_The same monsters who killed our grandmother, _she thought angrily. She remembered how Katara's expression would either sadden or darken every time she talked about her mother, Kya. She didn't want that to happen to Tenzin. She didn't want him to live the rest of his life with inerasable pain.

She would _not_ allow it.

"Yes _it will_," she said confidently.

The boys looked up. "How?" Tenzin asked. "Mom's still hurt, and she can't heal herself."

"I'm going to heal Mom."

To say that they were shocked at her bold declaration was an understatement. "Are you sure, Kya? No offense, but you've never really—"

"Yes I have."

Bumi's jaw dropped open, and so did Tenzin's. "W—what do you mean?"

"Someone pushed me off the swings at school. I fell, and my hands got scraped really bad. Of course, I water whipped that kid good—" She paused, smirking. "—but my hands were still bleeding. I remembered that washing a wound was the next best thing to a healer, so I went to the bathroom. When I ran the water on it, it glowed, and well, the bleeding stopped and the cuts were gone, too. Like nothing happened."

"That was the time you got in trouble at school, wasn't it?" he asked, recognition in his voice.

She nodded. "I couldn't say that it was because some guy pushed me, 'cuz I didn't have any evidence."

Tenzin spoke up. "Why didn't you say so? It's unfair that no one knows the real story."

She shook her head. "I didn't want to be a healer, remember? I didn't want anyone to know. But like I told you, it's in my blood. It's not my choice.

"I know that I know next to nothing about it, but I've healed myself before, without knowing it. Maybe I could do the same for Mom. Besides, what have I got to lose?"

Bumi studied her, not saying a word, only nodding. She was right.

"You can do this, Kya!" Tenzin told her. "It's our last hope."

Kya bit her lip, wavering for a second. Last hope. Everything depended on her.

She had never healed on purpose before; but then again, there was so much at stake: their mother's life, the safety of their home, and their father's . . . sanity? She wasn't even sure what had happened to him. As she said, there was nothing to lose by trying.

And there was so much to gain.

The fiery determination flared up inside her again and all doubts disappeared. She _had _to try.

She carefully adjusted Katara's position so that she was completely out of the pond. Kya felt a stab in her stomach when she noticed how limp and lifeless she was. And how her mother's pulse seemed even weaker than she thought was possible.

"Okay, step one: get some water," she muttered to herself. She didn't know much about the healing process, but this was common sense.

She drew a wisp of water out of the pond. Her hands shook as she laid it over her mother's burns.

"You can do it, Kya," Bumi said. She looked over her shoulder. He was smiling reassuringly at her, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

She smiled shakily back. "I'm Master Katara's daughter. 'Course I can," she replied, her words not really matching her level of confidence. She turned back to her patient.

Patient . . . she was really thinking like a healer now.

Now came the hard part. Her mother had only taught her how to heal in theory. Not to mention the fact that she was busy daydreaming or tuning her out at that time.

She shut her eyes tight and tried to remember.

"C'mon, brain, please," she muttered to herself. "Please tell me you saved something Mom told me about healing."

She saw herself pouting, and her mother, looking tired, trying to tell her something.

_Kya, are you even listening?_ She didn't sound angry, just exhausted.

_Healing's boring, _she had muttered.

A sigh from her mother. _Just try to listen to what I tell you, okay? I know you don't want to be a healer, but this might come in handy sometime._

"Like right now," she mumbled.

_After you have the water, search for the spot where energy is all knotted up, _she had said, demonstrating.

_How will I know where? _she had asked.

_Oh, you'll know, _her mother had replied, smiling. _You're a healer, Kya, whether you like it or not. A healer would know._

"No, I don't!" she said, frustrated. Who was she kidding? She was just a 10-year-old girl, a waterbender-in-training. A healer? Far from it.

Yes, she had just declared herself one a few minutes ago. But now, it seemed silly. She was already going crazy and the water hadn't even glowed yet.

But she knew she wouldn't get anything out of giving up. She was her mother's daughter, after all. From her physical traits to her extreme stubbornness.

"Here goes nothing." She shifted the water around, trying to find a place that felt . . . "knotted up", or at least different. Then she stopped all of a sudden. She felt . . . . twisted energy. She couldn't explain _how _or _why_, she just _knew_. She could feel it.

"There," she whispered. She tried to remember what her mother had told her next.

_Okay, Kya—Kya, please face this way, sweetie, _she had sighed. _Afterwards, you concentrate. Think about untangling the energy. _

_Untangling the energy?_ she had asked.

_It's just like untangling your braid. But instead of hair, you're dealing with chi._

_Chi? What's chi? You said it was energy! _She remembered her patience growing thin.

Her mother had chuckled. _Chi is another word for energy, Kya. If you feel anything broken, concentrate on fixing it, putting it back together._

The young waterbender closed her eyes, took a deep breath and imagined untangling the twisted knots she could feel.

She heard her brothers gasp, and she knew the water was starting to glow. _You can do this, Kya. You've got this, _she told herself.

She imagined fixing her mother's fried nerves and vessels. She clenched her jaw; this was pretty hard. She had to give her mother more credit.

_You have to be forceful, but careful so as not to hurt, _she realized. _It's like brushing my hair after getting airbended by Tenzin. But much more . . . abstract. _She grinned at her smart analogy. She would have to tell her Mom about that later. If she gets healed.

_When _she gets healed, she corrected herself.

She moved the water all around the extent of the burn, careful not to miss a spot.

She heard a small sound, and she knew it came from her mother. Her heart raced. Was that a good thing? Or did that mean she was in pain? Was that her last breath? She didn't dare peek. Opening her eyes would snap her concentration, and that was the last thing she wanted.

She desperately racked her memories for the last step in healing.

_Lastly, if you feel anything that doesn't belong, draw it out. _Her mother made a graceful drawing motion with her hands. _ It could be poison, or contaminated blood. It's a bit harder to bend than water, but a talented one like you won't have much trouble._

She saw her mother turn to look at her. Unfortunately, the Kya in her memory was busy doing tricks with the water. She watched as her mother had sighed sadly. _That is, if you were listening._

Tears sprung to her eyes yet again. "I'm so sorry, Mom," she whispered. "I am a healer. I realized it only know, but you've known it ever since. I'm going to do the best I can to heal you. You're _not_ going to die," she whispered fiercely.

She took a deep breath and collected herself. _Okay, Kya, feel anything that seems wrong?_

True enough, she felt something dark moving around in her mother's body. It wasn't dark as a color; rather, its essence was dark. She could sense it. She took another deep breath, and copied the drawing motion she had seen her mother do in the memory.

She clenched her jaw from the effort. Now she knew what her mother meant when she said that it was harder to bend. The dark fluid was like incredibly thick oil.

But she had also said that she could do it. She ended up gritting her teeth from the effort, and soon tiny beads of sweat were rolling down her forehead.

"C'mon, Kya," she told herself.

She was tired, that was for sure. But she concentrated and pulled even harder, her hands and arms trembling.

_Just one more, _she thought. She put all of her strength into one last pull.

She stumbled backwards from the force and landed on the ground. She opened her eyes and tried to catch her breath. "Thank you, thank you, brain! I guess the healer part of me was listening all along."

Tenzin and Bumi ran over and helped her get up. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me," she panted. "Is Mom fine?"

* * *

**Yes, the cliffhanger is back! For those wondering about Katara, you'll have to wait 'till next chap :) **

**Anyway, I told you guys the story had suspense, right? Might as well live up to that promise :D**

**The poor kids. . . they've been forced to grow up in such little time :( But another Korra-like moment for Kya :) A bit of Kyangst?**

**Ugh, corny, I know, I know -_-**

**Did I get the healing thing right? Did it make sense? Water's my favorite element, by the way (if you didn't notice the "slight" bias I showed during the battle scenes), so I really want to do this chap well 'cuz I'll never be able to waterbend in real life xD Please tell me what you think :)**


	7. The Avatar State

**A/N: Thank you again for the RFFs! Now, wanna find out what happens to Katara? :) No cheating by scrolling down; start from the top xP**

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

* * *

They hesitantly turned towards their mother, trying to fight the conflicting feelings raging in them. They wanted more than anything to know if their mother was alive, of course, but the very possibility that she wasn't . . . it was terrifying.

Katara's burns were looking noticeably better, though they were far from fully healed. Her clothes and hair were still charred, but of course Kya couldn't have done anything about that.

They held their breaths and stood as still as statues so as not to miss the slightest movement or noise. The seconds turned into minutes, but Katara remained motionless.

"M—Mom's not moving," Tenzin said, pointing out a fact they all knew. It didn't necessarily mean they accepted it, though.

"No," Kya murmured, her lower lip trembling. "_No._"

"Kya—" Bumi started.

"Don't try to make me feel better! I'm a failure, and that's that!" she snapped.

"It's not your fault, Kya," Bumi tried to comfort her, but his voice was shaking. "You did everything you cou—" He was cut off by a strange croaking noise.

"W—What's that?" Tenzin asked. "It's not a m—monster, r—right?"

"I don't know," Bumi cried, equally panicked.

"Shh!" Kya shushed them. "Maybe it's Mom!"

"Kya, Mom doesn't sound like—" The weird noise cut him off again.

Bumi and Tenzin whimpered and clung to Kya like their life depended on it. The waterbender, rolling her eyes, brushed them off. She walked to her mother and bent over.

"Mom?" she asked tentatively.

Silence. Then, a badger-frog leaped out of the pond. It opened its mouth and the same noise they had heard earlier came out of it. It regarded them with mild interest before hopping away.

Kya watched as the badger-frog disappeared around a corner. Her eyes started to water again, unable to believe how quickly her hopes had been crushed.

"See, I told you it wasn't Mom!" Bumi burst out.

All her tears drained at his words. "What was I supposed to think?" She marched up to her brother angrily. "That it was a monster?"

"It's better than getting our hopes up for no reason," he retorted bitterly.

"You're blaming _me_?! If I remember right, you two were cheering me on!_" _

"It was your idea!" Bumi glared at her.

"Did you have any _other _ideas?" She jabbed her finger at his chest. "Because I would have _loved _to hear them!"

Bumi had completely forgotten that his opponent was an enraged waterbender, but he was soon reminded of this fact when he noticed the pond water start to splash around violently.

"Uh, Kya—"

"Excuse _me _for not wanting to sit around and watch Mom die!" Kya yelled at him.

"Kya—"

"Kya, maybe you should—" Tenzin tried to say.

"Don't you dare take his side in this, Tenzin!"

"Kya, what Tenzin's trying to say is—"

"Is what?!" She threw her arms up in anger, and the water rose several feet above her, looming over them ominously.

"That," Bumi said in a small voice, pointing behind her. Tenzin huddled closer to his brother, frightened.

"Huh?" She turned around, puzzled. She barely had any time to gasp before the wave crashed down on them with a roar, leaving them soaked and spluttering.

"Ugh, now I know how Uncle Sokka felt!" Bumi exclaimed, coughing to get the water out of his lungs.

"I—I did that?" Kya asked, half-disbelieving and half-amazed.

"You sure did, little miss waterbender," Bumi retorted. "Man, you take after Mom too much sometimes."

"Mom! Oh no, did the wave hit her?" She scrambled to get up, but stopped dead when she heard a groaning sound, a bit different than before.

"M—M—Monster!" Tenzin cried, blowing away everything within five feet of him (including Kya and Bumi) in self-defense. They landed face down on the wet ground, smearing themselves with mud.

"Benders," Bumi muttered, annoyed, trying to wipe the mud off his face.

Kya felt her temper shoot up again. "Just because you can't bend—"

"And just because you _can _bend—"

"W—What . . ." a voice croaked out.

They whipped around to look at Katara. "Did you hear that? Was that . . . was that . . ." Kya couldn't get the words out properly.

There was a groan and to their disbelief, Katara slowly, painfully sat up. She looked exhausted." W—What happened?" She blinked several times, obviously disoriented. She tried to focus on the three blobs in front of her, who in reality were her three gaping children. "Kids?" she asked, obviously confused at the sight in front of her, which was now relatively clearer: Kya and Bumi seeming to be at each other's throats, while Tenzin was a few feet away, crouching in what seemed to be fear.

"MOM!" The three children launched themselves at their mother, completely forgetting her condition. They were so tired and had already cried themselves dry, so they just let themselves relax in their mother's touch.

Katara winced at the enthusiastic impact, but didn't complain. Though she had no idea why they were all dripping wet and why Kya and Bumi were covered in mud, her maternal instincts kicked in first. "I'm here," she soothed them.

After a few seconds, she let her gaze wander from them, and saw the devastated island. She gasped and checked her arm—which was now an angry pinkish-red—remembering. "Bumi! Are you alright? Kya! Tenzin! Get back into the house! It's too dangerous here!" She struggled to get up.

They stepped away to give their mother some space. "Wait, Mom, you might hurt yourself! Let us explain." She tried to talk as evenly as possible in hopes of calming her mother down.

Katara didn't seem to hear her.

Bumi, however, had a completely different approach. "Mom! You almost died!"

That caught her attention. She stopped short, sitting back down on the ground. "What?"

"I'm really sorry about it; it's my fault, you know, with the glider," he apologized. "You almost died; and you would have if Kya hadn't healed you."

She blinked, trying to process what she had just heard. "Kya? You . . . healed me?" She turned to her eldest.

"Well, uh, tried, at least," she blushed. "I think what really woke you up was our arguing and the uh, wave."

"Well, you kids' bickering _is_ loud enough to wake the dead," she said with a smirk. The children chuckled uneasily at the pun.

Katara's face then broke into a huge smile. "But you talented little waterbender! I always knew you were a healer." She opened her arms, and Kya gingerly walked into them, trying not to touch her mother's burns.

"My burn was a third-degree one, by the looks of it. And those are really difficult to heal, even for masters. I'm _so _proud of you!" she told Kya.

"Thanks, Mom. I actually just recalled what you taught me," she said with a shy smile. "Don't forget Bumi and Tenzin, though. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have gotten you to the pond at all."

"Are you saying that Bumi and Tenzin . . . fought?" Katara asked, disbelieving. The two boys nodded timidly.

"Bumi, Tenzin, are you alright? Does anything hurt?" She searched them for any sign of injury.

"We're fine, Mom," Bumi reassured her.

"Yeah, nothing hurts," Tenzin added.

"Don't worry, Mom, they were awesome! We really showed those firbenders," Kya's smug smile was back.

"Do you three know how _dangerous_ that was?"They flinched at the sudden change in their mother's tone of voice.

"Yes," they whimpered, eyes on the ground.

Bumi, however, now well-educated on the capability of angry waterbenders, immediately checked the pond. He was surprised to find the water calm.

"And how extremely _brave _that was?" They looked up, and saw their mother smiling, "I'm _so _proud of you kids! Your father would be too, when he finds out." She paused, realizing something. "Wait a minute, where _is _he?" she asked, panicking again. "Is he all right?"

"That's uh, kind of what we need to talk about, Mom," Tenzin said uneasily.

"If you count glowing eyes and tattoos, floating in a ball of air, shooting out fireballs and having really strong winds blowing everything away from him, then yeah, he's okay," Bumi said in a way that would have made his Uncle Sokka proud. "Oh, did I mention he also cut off a part of the island? And he made lava rise out . . . which was pretty dangerous and scary, I guess, but you gotta admit, it was also cool—"

"He's WHAT?!" Katara shrieked. She looked up, and true enough, her husband was everything Bumi had said to be.

"Did he, by any chance, see me unconscious?" she asked. "Did he find out that I almost. . . died?" She had to force out the last word.

"Actually, I think he thought you were dead," Kya said softly. "He started glowing after that."

"Glowing Dad is scary," Tenzin whimpered.

Katara closed her eyes and groaned. "Oh no."

"Mom, do you know what's happening to Dad?" Tenzin idolized Aang more than anyone; he was extremely worried about him. Meanwhile, Kya and Bumi were starting to wonder if their brother was secretly a mind reader, with the way he seemed to speak their minds.

Katara hesitated; she wasn't sure how to explain it to them. But they deserved an explanation, and she knew she couldn't keep the truth from them forever. She cast a swift, worried glance at Aang before turning back to them.

"Remember when you asked what happens when your Dad gets mad?" They nodded.

"Well, that's what happens." She gestured at "Glowing Dad." "Whenever he's in extreme danger or under great emotional stress, he triggers this thing called the Avatar State."

"I heard someone say that earlier. What is that?" Kya asked.

"In the Avatar State, your father has the power of all the Avatars before him," she explained.

"But that's good, right?" Bumi asked.

"It depends. But in this case, it's not. When he enters the Avatar state emotionally, like right now, he loses control of himself."

"That's why he isn't acting like himself," Tenzin said.

"That's right, Ten. He might end up destroying the island as well."

"Then what should we do?" Kya asked.

"Well, most of the time, his Avatar State was triggered due to need, during battles. But sometimes it got triggered by emotional stress, like I said. When he found out Appa had been sold, for example. "

"Wait a minute, so when I accidentally broke that Air Nomad vase, I could have made him trigger the Avatar State?" Bumi asked, panicking.

Tenzin's eyes widened. "I've really got to start cleaning my room now."

Katara laughed lightly. "No. The emotional stress that triggers the Avatar State is usually something really devastating, something which in Dad's eyes would be almost unforgivable."

"Like thinking a firebender killed you?" Bumi asked softly.

"Yes," she replied sadly. "And those times, he had to be coaxed out of it, usually by me."

"Wait, so you're telling us that to get Dad back to normal, you have to _talk _him out of it," Kya's skepticism was hard to miss.

Their mother nodded. "We need to tell him that we're safe and to calm down."

"That should be easy then," Bumi said. He turned and yelled, "DAD! It's Bumi! We're safe and Mom's alive, so you can stop glowing now!"

"I don't think Dad can hear you over those winds, Bumi," Tenzin said.

"Then I'll get closer, then."

Katara stopped him just as he was about to run off. "Hold on there, little warrior. The Avatar State's purpose is to protect the Avatar. You won't be able to walk right up to him. There was one time he almost blew your Uncle Sokka and I off a mountain."

"I ran up to him earlier and I got blown away," Kya remembered.

"Are you hurt?" Motherly concern swept over her again.

"I'm fine, Mom, thanks to Tenzin's airbending." She grinned at her brother. "But you're burns aren't looking too good," she said sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"You did an excellent job for a first-timer," she reassured her. "I'm not joking. Burns like these actually take lots of healing sessions."

"Then how are you going to get Dad out of the Avatar State?" Tenzin asked. "You're still hurt."

"Another healing session and I'll be fine," she said, stretching the truth a bit for her children's sake. "Besides, I've got a waterbender, a warrior, and an airbender to back me up." She winked. "What more would I need?"

"But—but you said it wasn't safe for us." Bumi was wide-eyed as he .

"And it's not," she agreed. "But you kids take right after your Dad and me. You're naturals with danger." They grinned with pleasure at her compliment.

"You got that right, Mom!" Kya told her. "Now let's do this!"

"We're gonna get Dad back in no time," Tenzin added confidently.

"Operation: Get Dad Out of the Avatar State is now underway!" Bumi exclaimed. "We're going to need Appa, and some waterskins, ooh, and my boomerang . . ." He ticked off each one on his fingers.

Katara shook her head, smiling. _These are really some kids we've got, Aang, _she thought.

* * *

**I think I kind of overused the em dash in this chap -_-**

**Btw, badger-frogs are from the episode "The Boiling Rock Part 1"!**

**Reviews? How'd you like the suspense? :D**


	8. OGDOOTAS

**A/N: Sorry this is late :( But anyway . . . what do you think of the chap title? xD**

**Btw, all that angst in the previous chapters has gotten to me, and I ended up writing an angsty one-shot. It's called "Dark Side", inspired by the song by Kelly Clarkson. It's about Aang talking to Katara after "The Puppetmaster", and of course, there's a bit of Kataang :) Feel free to check it out sometime! :D**

**Thank you again for the RFFs! Glad you liked that last chap :)**

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

* * *

"Everyone here?" Katara hoisted herself up on Appa's saddle, wincing at the sharp stab of pain the movement caused.

She turned to Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin, who were all seated comfortably. They nodded.

"Kya, your waterskin?" she asked, at the same time checking on her own.

"Filled," the young waterbender replied.

"Bumi, your boomerang?"

"Right here." He patted his precious weapon, which was right next to him.

"Okay, then," Katara said, sitting down as well. "We all remember the plan, right?"

Kya and Tenzin nodded again while Bumi, on the other hand, grinned. It was _his _plan, after all . . . with a bit of his mother's input, of course.

Operation: Get Dad Out of the Avatar State (as he called it) was simple: they would reach Aang on Appa, armed with water, air, and a boomerang. Elemental shields would protect them on all sides against the winds and anything the Avatar might possibly hurl at them. When they were close enough to be heard, they would try to calm him down "in the gentlest way possible", as Katara had told them.

The boomerang . . . well, it was important, that much he knew. He decided he'd figure out its exact role later.

Initially, Katara wasn't too excited about taking Appa; she was going to argue that she had gotten Aang out of the Avatar state numerous times while on the ground, but one glance at her husband convinced her otherwise. He was about a hundred feet in the air, higher than she had ever seen him.

She glanced at her eldest son. He was definitely clever, and Aang and Sokka had had countless debates regarding who he had taken after. Though she refused to get herself involved in that "nonsense", she was positive about two things: Bumi had gotten his impulsiveness and incurable knack for mischief from Aang, and his unbelievable appetite from Sokka.

"Mom? Are we going to make the water shield now?" Kya asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, right." Together, they lifted the water from the pond and shaped it into a sphere that surrounded Appa.

"You know, 'water shield' is a mouthful. Let's just call it the 'bubble'," Bumi suggested.

"That sounds lame," Kya pointed out.

Bumi scoffed. "When you're on a mission, you have to use the least words possible so that you don't waste too much time talking," he said matter-of-factly.

"Which is why you named this mission 'Operation: Get Dad Out of the Avatar State'." she retorted sarcastically. _"Definitely_ not a mouthful."

"It's OGDOOTAS for short," he replied smugly. "Og-doo-tas. See?"

Kya growled in annoyance. "You know, you're lucky my hands are busy holding up a _water shield _right now."

"That's enough, you two," Katara chided them. "Naming things is the least of our worries right now." Kya and Bumi turned away from each other, huffing indignantly.

"Tenzin? It's your turn." The airbender, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, stood up. He touched his fists together (just like his father had taught him) and soon, he was surrounded in a ball of air. He concentrated hard, trying to make it big enough to fit all of them, but unfortunately ended up falling back with the effort.

"Ten! Are you okay?" his mother asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I'm fine, Mom." He rubbed his back, which was sore from the impact. "I'll just try again." He started to get up.

It was obvious that they were asking too much from the young airbender. "That's all right, Ten," she reassured him. "It's hard to make one on your own. See, it takes both me and Kya to make a water shield this big."

"Hey, I can totally make one on my—" Katara cut her off with a look before turning back to Tenzin.

"Why don't you steer Appa instead?" she suggested, upon seeing his crestfallen expression.

His face immediately lit up. "Yes!" He was at the reins a blast of air later.

"Ooh, can I help too, Mom?" Bumi jumped up and down excitedly, apparently having forgotten about his argument with Kya.

"Why not? As long as you two don't fight."

"All right! I promise, Mom, we won't!" He gave his mother a huge grin before picking up his boomerang and taking off. He seated himself right next to his brother.

Katara shook her head. If Bumi had been an airbender . . . no, she didn't even want to imagine it.

"Is everybody ready for takeoff?" Bumi announced in a very pilot-like manner.

Kya rolled her eyes. Ignoring her, Katara smiled as she answered, "We sure are, Captain."

"Hey, how come Bumi gets to be the captain?" Tenzin complained.

Katara mentally groaned. Bumi seemed to be a trouble magnet lately.

"Because—" He emphasized the word. "—you're my assistant."

"That's unfair!" the airbender said indignantly.

"Do I hear some fighting?" Katara asked.

"No, Mom! Argh, fine, we're both captains," he reluctantly conceded. His brother grinned, triumphant.

"Boys, we need to get going," their mother reminded them.

"Right," Bumi said. "Appa—"

"How come _you _get to say it?"

"Ugh, why are you so-" Katara raised an eyebrow at him. "Forget it. Let's just say it together."

"Appa, yip yip!" they cried, one sulky and one cheerful. With a roar, the sky bison flew into the air.

Katara started having second thoughts about letting them steer, but she figured that since Aang had been giving bison flying lessons to Tenzin (with Bumi sitting in ), they would probably know a thing or two about flying . . . maybe. Just in case, earlier, she had carefully explained the situation to Appa. He was a smart animal, after all.

She shook her head. A worrier she was indeed, even back when she was a teenager. But that aside, she couldn't figure out why the the world seemed to have decided that it was National Go Wrong Day. Usually it was that way for Sokka, but she guessed maybe the spirits finally found him annoying and decided to move on to her.

_Get back to reality, Katara. No use blaming the spirits or Sokka or whatever, _she told herself. She decided to turn her attention to something that was actually worthwhile.

"Kya, it's going to be harder holding the shield up when we get closer to Dad, so be prepared," she warned her.

"Okay, Mom," she answered. Neither of them said anything after, so they just spent the next few minutes listening to Bumi's yells of exhilaration and Tenzin's attempts to explain to his brother how flying bison were the first airbenders.

If there was one thing common between those three kids, it was their apparent incapability to hold grudges. At least, that was what Katara believed. "Incapability to hold grudges" sounded much better than "extreme mood swings."

"Mom?" Kya asked.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"What if . . . what if it doesn't work?"

"It will, Kya. Trust me," she reassured her. Inside, however, she was trembling. Her daughter had struck on one of her greatest fears.

"When we get Dad out of the Avatar State, will he go back to normal?"

"Well, aside from being really tired, yes, he'll go back to normal," she answered. "But he's also going to be mad at himself. That's why we have to make him feel better, because what happened wasn't his fault." Kya seemed to absorb her words slowly, thinking about them.

Katara sighed miserably. "I'm so sorry you kids had to go through this. I promise, if your father and I could have prevented this in any way, we would have—"

"Relax, Mom." Kya smiled up at her. "It's not your fault, and like you said, it isn't Dad's fault either. But at least this whole thing is pretty exciting, huh?"

"E—Exciting?" Katara thought the more appropriate term was "dangerous." "Exciting" had a positive connotation, and she couldn't see anything positive in their current situation.

"I mean, you and Dad and all your friends talk about your adventures when you were kids all the time. We've wanted to go on our own adventure for ages!" she exclaimed.

Katara tried to process what she just heard. "You have?"

"_Of course, _Mom! And so do Lin and Honora and Pako! Can we bring them along next time?"

"Er . . ." Her mother was at a loss for words. "Let's just hope there won't _be _a next time, sweetie."

"But can we?" she wheedled.

Katara sighed. "We'll see. But you have to ask permission from their parents."

"Yay! Thank you, Mom!" she squealed. The water shield/bubble shook, and Katara instinctively moved to steady it. "Oops, sorry."

Kya glanced at her mother. She looked tired, stressed out, and extremely worried at the same time. Her sharp eyes also noticed how Katara winced every now and then. The young waterbender (and now amateur healer) was sure the pain was much more than she had let on.

She wanted to make her feel better, even just a little bit. "You know, Mom, don't worry. Dad will be fine in no time."

Katara turned to her. Her eyes seemed to belong to someone else, someone much older. "If only I hadn't blacked out—"

"Mom, Dad went into the Avatar State because he thought you were dead, right?"

"Yes."

"Then that means he loves you a lot," she said. The master waterbender was silenced.

"And Bumi, Tenzin and I love you a lot, too, Mom. We didn't know what we would do without you earlier," she continued earnestly. "Honestly, we still don't."

There was a certain sincerity that children were naturally capable of, and Kya's every word rang with it. Katara's eyes teared up, but she smiled. "Thanks, Kya. That means a lot to me."

"Anytime, Mom."

They were so absorbed in their conversation, they had almost forgotten where they were. Bumi and Tenzin, however, quickly brought them back to reality.

"Mom! Kya!" Tenzin cried.

They turned. "Wha—"

"FIREBALLS INCOMING!" Bumi yelled as he and Tenzin frantically pulled at the reins.

Appa roared and swerved to evade them. Unfortunately, the bison wasn't able to avoid the last one.

"Argh!" It was all they could do to keep the shield together.

"Mom! The winds!" Kya exclaimed.

"I know," Her voice sounded strained. "We're almost there, I think. Just try to hold on a little longer."

However, they were no match for an Avatar at full power, and it took only seconds before the shield collapsed, leaving them vulnerable to the strong winds.

In an instant, Katara had directed the water towards the saddle, freezing her and Kya's legs securely in place. With everything happening so fast, she had forgotten about Bumi and Tenzin, who at the reins.

"HEEEELLLLLPPPPP!" The wind blew Tenzin backwards, even with his desperate attempts to airbend himself to safety.

Instinctively, Katara uncorked her waterskin and drew out a waterwhip. She was able to grab him by the ankle just in time, but Bumi, however, was nowhere in sight.

"Bumi? BUMI?!" She searched around frantically.

"Right here, Mom!" She whipped around. Bumi was hanging on to Appa's reins with the use of his boomerang. Both of his hands were gripped tightly on the weapon, but anyone could see that it couldn't stay that way for long. "But, uh, I can't hang on much lonGGGGGEEEERRRRR!" His left hand slipped and he flew backwards through the air.

Katara lashed out another waterwhip, barely grabbing Bumi by his boomerang.

"Hold on tight, Bumi!" she instructed. "Kya, a little help?"

Kya seemed as if she had just snapped out of a trance. "Right!" She drew two waterwhips from her own waterskin and wrapped them around her brothers.

Fighting against the wind, they pulled the boys back to safety. Katara froze their legs to the saddle, just like she had done earlier.

Meanwhile, Tenzin and Bumi busied themselves with catching their breaths. "Wow, thanks," Tenzin muttered, as Katara and Kya bent the water back into their waterskins.

"That sure was close," Bumi said in between pants. "Thanks Mom! Thanks Kya! And _thank you _boomerang!" He kissed his trusty weapon. "I knew you'd come in handy!"

"Not the time, Bumi," Tenzin reminded him, yelling over the wind. "Wait a minute, who's going to steer Appa?"

"He can manage," his mother said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "And we've got something bigger to deal with."

She took a deep breath, preparing herself. Then she turned to face her husband.

Katara had to squint because of the wind, but she saw him clearly. Too clearly, in fact.

Aang's expression was livid, enraged. More than she had ever seen him before. His jaw was clenched tight and he was sending out random blasts of fire and air into the sky.

It hurt her to see him like this. "Aang!" she yelled. She didn't flinch as she faced the Avatar's glowing glare. "Aang! Calm down, sweetie, it's going to be—" She was met with a blast of fire, which she narrowly dodged.

She had long crossed the line of overexertion, and the sudden, sharp movement was too much for her injured body. Everything around her started to spin.

"MOM!" they yelled, starting to panic. The situation was worse than they thought. Their Dad would never _ever _hurt their Mom. But apparently, Glowing Dad could.

"DAD! I'm sorry for doing something stupid and dangerous, but Mom's okay now!" Bumi yelled.

"She's fine, Dad!" Kya tried to tell him. "She's alive! It might sound crazy, but I healed her!"

"Dad! Can you hear us? I swear by the spirits you'll never have to remind me to clean my room again!"

Kya and Bumi decided to follow his lead. "And I won't bend at my brothers!"

"I'll try not to pull too many pranks!" Bumi promised.

Meanwhile, Katara struggled to keep herself conscious. She had already blacked out once, and that was probably one of the worst mistakes she had ever made.

Like they were no match for the Avatar, the wooziness had to give in to her stubborn spirit. Everything slowly got clearer, and she was soon back to her exhausted but conscious self.

She focused on her children, who looked terrified and were promising things she knew they would never say under normal circumstances.

"Just snap out of it, Dad!" one of them yelled. She wasn't sure which one. "Please!"

The master waterbender had gone through too much that day, and the sight of her desperate children finally made her hit her breaking point. She was a mother, after all.

Most people cry when they hit their breaking point. In Katara's case, however, her temper usually flared up before her tears spilled. "Aang, calm down this instant or you're getting nothing but sea prunes for dinner tonight!" she snapped, throwing everything she had said about being gentle out the window.

It was almost comical how quickly the winds started to die down and how the sky returned to its normal color. They watched in utter shock as the glow faded from Aang's eyes and tattoos, and the sphere of air surrounding him slowly disappeared.

Katara closed her eyes, limp with relief. She couldn't believe it was actually over. In fact, she couldn't believe what had just happened or what she had just done . . . not that it mattered. What was important was that everything was going to be fine now.

"Woohoo!" Bumi fist pumped the air. "Mission accomplished!"

"Oh yeah, we are AWESOME!" Kya high-fived him.

"Wait, Dad's not airbending!" Tenzin sounded panicked.

"That's the whole point, Tenzin." Bumi rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a party pooper."

"Don't you get it, Bumi?!" Katara had never heard him sound so agitated before, so she looked up. She was surprised to see the airbender grab his brother by the shoulders; Tenzin never did that. "If Dad's not airbending—"

"He's going to hit the ground!" Kya screamed as she pointed at the Avatar, who was plummeting towards the earth at a dangerous speed.

* * *

**Cliffhanger is back! Did 'ya miss it? :D**

**The mother-daughter talk was in celebration of Mother's Day! Advanced Happy Mother's Day to all mothers! :D**

**The other people Kya wanted to invite were Zuko and Mai's daughter and Sokka and Suki's son, respectively. I read somewhere that her name was Honora (makes sense), but I'm not sure if that's confirmed.**

**As for Pako (Pa-kow), well, uh, I just randomly combined Pakku and Bato. Anyway, I'll just make them canon-compliant as soon as I find out what their real names are.**

**So, reviews? What do you think of the anticlimactic touch? Yes, the Avatar's kryptonite sure is sea prunes xD**

**Constructive criticism is always welcome, btw, especially since this is the climax! :D**


	9. Leave it to the Kids

**A/N: Yes, a new chapter! Hope you enjoyed the cliffhanger xD**

**Once again, thank you so much for all the RFFs! :D**

**I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra.**

* * *

In an instant, the ice surrounding their legs unfroze and Katara ran for the reins, adrenaline once again replacing the pain in her body. "Appa! We have to catch Aang!" she told the bison, sitting down on its head and grabbing the reins with her left hand. "Kids, hold on tight!"

The air bison swiftly plunged down, causing the children to hold on to the saddle for dear life. Meanwhile, Katara drew out a waterwhip from her trusty waterskin and sent it downwards after Aang.

She growled in aggravation as the whip fell short, just inches away from Aang's foot. She didn't dare stretch it anymore; doing so would compromise the whip's durability.

"Just . . . a little. . . more . . ." She leaned as far as she could to make up for the whip's lack of length.

Katara gritted her teeth. Though closer than before, Aang's ankle was just barely in grasping reach. To catch him, her movements would have to be deft, and she couldn't do that with only one hand.

Most people would panic and do the "noble thing", which was to let go of the reins, but Katara, however, was part of the minority with common sense. She slipped the reins under her arm and used her now-free hand to bend the whip with more precision.

After a few more agonizing attempts, Katara was able to wrap the tendril around Aang's ankle with some skillful turns of her hand.

"Got—woah!" She was no match for the combined force of her husband and gravity, and she screamed as she was yanked downwards.

_Oh spirits what am I going to do the kids this is the end Aang I'm sorry Kya Bumi Tenzin I can't—_

"Ow!' Her split second-long contemplation of her impending death was cut off by a sharp, searing pain in her wrist.

She panted, trying to process everything. Her head was in a whirl, but she realized with a start that she wasn't falling anymore. In fact, she was leaning on something soft and white . . . Appa's fur?

She heard a low grumble and the soft white thing shuddered, the vibrations shaking her entire body. Yep, definitely Appa's fur.

She glanced down; Aang was still safe, and so was she. She gulped as she looked past him, and noticed how tiny the trees seemed to be . . . and how tinier they seemed to be getting.

Were they rising upwards?

The pain in her wrist intensified, demanding her attention. She turned to it, and her eyes widened at what she saw: her wrist was entangled in ropes.

Or more accurately, Appa's reins.

She gasped as the pieces came together: she had fallen off Appa, and by some miracle, her wrist had gotten caught in the reins, saving her and Aang.

"MOM! Are you okay?" someone called.

Katara looked up. Three small heads peered down at her.

"She's fine!" She recognized the voice as Tenzin. "Gee, Mom, you scared us!"

"Nice work, Airboy, you _do _know how to fly a bison!" She didn't have to try hard to figure out whose voice _that _was.

"Uh, I didn't do anything," Tenzin said.

"What? Then who—"

"Flying bison are really smart animals. Appa must have pulled up by himself."

"Oh," Bumi said. "Good job, then, Appa!"

"Not the time, guys!" Kya chided her brothers.

Meanwhile, the reins had started to slowly come loose, and soon, Katara had her fingers tightly wrapped around them. A cry of panic escaped her lips.

"Mom! What was that?"

"I'm slipping!" she called, a note of hysteria in her voice. "Kya, freeze my hand to the reins, quick!"

"Got it!" A moment later, a jet of water flew towards her, securely freezing her hand in a block of ice. Katara sighed in relief. "I also froze the reins to Appa's horns, just in case!" Kya called.

"And we're going to pull you and Dad up now!" Bumi informed her, and they disappeared.

Katara looked down at Aang, then at her strained, shaking waterwhip. She'd never really tested the limits of her bending, and she didn't want to find out the hard way. The kids were going to have to hurry.

. . . . . . . .

Bumi ran to the reins and tugged, accomplishing nothing. "Okay, so maybe it's gonna be a tiny bit harder than I thought."

"And here I thought you were Mr. Plan Guy." Kya rolled her eyes.

"As a matter of fact, I _do _have a plan." Bumi retorted indignantly.

She scoffed. "Anyone with eyes could see that it just failed." She gestured at the reins.

"That was Plan A, my dear sister." He stuck his tongue out at her. "And I hatched Plan B by learning from the mistakes of Plan A."

"Um, can we hear the plan now?" Tenzin interjected.

Mr. Plan Guy cleared his throat. "Anyway, as I realized, there's no way we can just pull them up by simply tugging all at one point. There's a big chance the tension would be too much for the reins to handle." After a quick glance at Tenzin's blank expression, he added, "In short, they're too heavy."

"Anyway," Bumi continued. "The solution is to distribute the weight."

"How're we going to do that?" Tenzin asked.

"We're going to pull them up at different places, like how we carried Mom to the pond. Kya, do you think you can wrap a waterwhip around Mom's arm? You know, the one she's using to hold Dad up?"

"Sure thing."

"Okay, I'm going to be pulling on the reins." He turned to the airbender. "Tenzin, can you help support Mom's weight? I need you to push the air around her middle, but focusing more on Kya's side since that's were Dad—"

"I usually borrow Dad's staff when I bend air at a distance." Tenzin frowned thoughtfully. "I'll try doing it with my hands, though."

He fumbled with his hands, going through a dozen awkward gestures. "Uh, sorry, I don't really think there's a proper position for that."

"Kids? Are you all right up there?" Katara's voice called.

"We're fine, Mom! Just working on a plan!" he replied before turning back to his brother and whipping out his boomerang. "How about you use my boomerang instead of a staff?"

Tenzin's eyebrows almost flew off his head. "What?!"

"Hey, it's worth a try." Bumi shrugged. "Avatar Kyoshi used fans, right?"

"I know you love your boomerang and all, but a fan's different, Bumi!" Tenzin insisted. "I mean—"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Tenzin met his brother's eyes with skepticism before reaching out to tae the weapon. Bumi had had it ever since he could remember, and it was a gift from their Uncle Sokka. He'd pulled many a prank with it, but only the blunted edges and thin scratches gave away its wear. The boomerang remained an overall shiny silver due to Bumi's nightly polishing.

"Give me that. But I'm pretty sure this isn't going to—" He waved the boomerang, and Kya was blown a foot backward. He stared at the boomerang in shocked disbelief.

"You were saying?" Bumi said smugly.

Tenzin flicked the boomerang upward, this time tossing his sister a foot in the air. She landed face first back onto the saddle.

"Ow! Watch it, Tenzin!" Kya glared at the airbender.

"That was actually meant for Bumi," he admitted. "Sorry."

"That apology better be meant for me, too," Bumi muttered as he helped his sister up.

Ignoring his brother, Tenzin turned the boomerang over in his hands, studying it. "It's made of metal, like Avatar Kyoshi's fan, but its shape doesn't give me good control over the air." He frowned at the weapon.

"Well, it's the best we've got," Bumi said."Now, are we going to save Mom and Dad or what?"

. . . . . . . .

As it turned out, Bumi's plan worked and Tenzin found out that holding the boomerang at both ends helped with (if not solved) the control issues. They successfully got Katara and Aang back on the saddle, after what seemed to be endless minutes of pulling.

Exhausted, Katara let the water from the whip fall limply onto the saddle. "Thank you so much, kids." She melted the ice on her hand (as well as those on Appa's horns) before turning back to her husband.

"No prob, Mom," Kya said.

"Is Dad okay?" Tenzin asked.

They heard a faint groan and turned to see Aang—who was lying on the saddle—groggily focusing his familiar gray eyes on them. "K—Katara? Kya? Bumi? Tenzin?"

"AANG!" Katara cried, and at the same time Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin yelled, "DAD!" Unthinkingly, they tackled the poor Avatar, who was soon lost under a sea of legs and arms.

Katara was the first to come to her senses. "Wait, be careful, kids, Dad's tired," she said, standing up, and wiping at the tears in her eyes.

"No, no, it's okay, Katara," Aang reassured her, pulling himself into a sitting position, leaning heavily on the edge of Appa's saddle. "I'm so glad you're all safe." His eyes lingered on her, obviously still unable to believe she was alive.

"Dad! We were so worried!" Kya exclaimed.

"I'm so glad you're back to normal!" Tenzin said.

"Me, too," Bumi added. "I like normal Dad way better than Glowing Dad."

Katara watched sadly as his expression darkened and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for putting you all in danger. I hope you never have to see me like that again, but hoping doesn't do much."

The master waterbender felt a pang at his words. She was suddenly back at General Fong's base, with a twelve-year old Aang in her arms.

"I—I'd understand if you hate me now, or if you're scared of me . . . I'm a horrible father. You all deserve so much better."

"No, you're not, Dad!" Tenzin cried.

"Yeah, Dad, you're great!" Kya told him.

"Aang, don't say that—"

"Say what, Katara? The truth?" he challenged her. "You almost _died_, the kids were put in serious danger, and I don't even need to look to know that the island is a wreck! All because of _me_!"

"What happened to Mom was my fault, Dad!" Bumi exclaimed. "She was distracted because she was trying to save me. I was trying to bring you your glider . . . which in hindsight was a stupid plan," he admitted. "Anyway, I'm sorry, too."

Aang was already shaking his head. "The rebels were after _me_. It was my fault; I failed."

"You didn't fail anyone, Aang—"

"I failed to protect _you_," he said, cutting her off. "All of you. I—"

"Aang, you need to rest," Katara said, attempting to distract him. "You've used up a lot of energy, and you've been in the Avatar State for a long time."

"Katara—"

"Aang, rest. Healer's orders." The waterbender's voice was gentle but firm. She drew some water and positioned it above Aang's chest. She shut her eyes in concentration, and the water started to glow.

"Katara—" He was unable to finish his sentence, for all of a sudden, he felt incredibly sleepy. His eyes drooped, and he was unconscious in a matter of seconds.

"Woah, Mom, what did you do?" Bumi asked, awestruck.

"I put him to sleep," Katara explained.

"I didn't know healers could do that," Kya remarked.

"It's a technique I developed some time ago. I don't really teach anyone this, though, since it would be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands—"

"YOU DEVELOPED IT?!" Kya squealed.

"Well, with the help of your Aunt Ty Lee's chi-blocking knowledge."

"Mom, you have _got _to teach me that someday."

"We'll see, sweetie." She was amused at Kya's newfound interest in healing.

"Um, Mom?" Tenzin asked. They all turned their attention towards him. "Is Dad gonna be all right?"

"He's stable, but I'd want to keep an eye on him," she said, glancing his at her husband. "And all that adrenaline is starting to take its toll on me." This time, she glanced at her burns, which had started to sting again.

"I'm sorry for asking so much from you three, but do you think you can handle bringing Appa down?"

"Well—" Tenzin started.

"Sure thing, Mom!" Bumi said, cutting his brother off. "You go watch over Dad and rest, we'll get right on it!" He grabbed Tenzin by the hand and ran over to the reins.

"Yeah, you take a break first, Mom," Kya told her mother. "We'll handle this!" she said before following her brothers.

. . . . . . .

"What do you mean y_ou don't know how to steer Appa_ _down?! _What happened to _'sure thing'_?" Kya said in a ferocious whisper. She tried her best to fight the sudden urge to throttle her brother.

"I meant _'Sure, we'll figure it out',_" Bumi explained, defending himself. "And we will. Tenzin can steer!" he declared, gesturing at the airbender.

"I can?" Tenzin asked incredulously. "I mean, yeah, but I've never done it without Dad—"

"Good enough!" Bumi interrupted him. "You'll do great, Airboy! You were telling me something about how flying bison were the first airbenders, right?" Tenzin nodded. "See, Appa's an airbender, you're an airbender; I'll bet you guys have some weird airbender instinct connection whatever which will make you a natural!" he exclaimed, accompanying his words with some wild hand gestures.

"Weird airbender instinct connection whatever?" Tenzin repeated doubtfully.

"Sure! Now go and grab those reins and steer like your life depends on it!" He gave his brother a light shove forward.

"Bumi!" Kya scolded him. "Knock it off!"

"Don't worry, bro! You've got Captain Bumi right here. World's best navigator."

Kya shot a very disbelieving look at her brother before exchanging a look with Tenzin, who just nodded unsurely.

"What, you don't believe me? Uncle Sokka taught me everything! Even how to steer a ship," he bragged.

"If you haven't noticed, _Captain, _we're on a sky bison, not a ship," Kya told him sarcastically.

"Pssh. Ship, bison, what's the difference?"

"Um, is everything all right there?" Katara's voice called.

"Yep, just perfect!" Bumi quickly answered, shooting a look at Tenzin. "Go, go!" he whispered.

Tenzin hurriedly seated himself on Appa's head and grabbed the reins. "Okay, now, what was it Dad used to say? Um, yip yip?"

Appa roared and flew higher in the air.

"Down, Tenzin! We're supposed to be going down!" Kya yelled.

"How? Wa-hoo? Yee-ha? Yup yup?" he panicked, yanking the reins in every direction. "Yipee?!"

There was only one option left, but he decided to play it for all it was worth.

"Um, Appa?" He felt stupid for even considering the idea, but he didn't have much choice. "We kind of need to go down slowly. Yeah, um, Bumi said we'd have some weird airbender instinct connection whatever so, uh, yeah, please go down . . ."

To his relief, Appa let out another roar and descended.

"That's better!" Bumi said. "Now, this is where my navigational skills come in." He ran over to the side to get a better look at where they were going.

"Okay, bring Appa down a bit slower," Bumi instructed. "There, that's better . . . wait, STARBOARD! No, no, SHARP PORT!"

"How are we going to board a star?!" Tenzin cried frantically. He couldn't understand why his brother had suddenly decided to speak gibberish. "And why would we need to go where the ferry port is? Bumi, are you feeling okay?"

Bumi, however, didn't seem to hear him. "I said, PORT! What are you waiting for, Tenzin? Steer Appa to the left!"

Tenzin yanked the reins to the left, and the bison roared and followed. "Why didn't you say so earlier?" he fumed.

"I did!" Bumi insisted.

"No, you've been talking crazy! You said something about boarding a star and going to the ferry port!"

"When you're navigating a ship, port means left, airhead." Bumi rolled his eyes. "And starboard means right."

"How many times do we have to tell you? We're steering a _flying bison, _not a—"

"What _happened_?" Katara's voice frantically cried.

"Sorry, Mom!" Bumi explained. "Minor turbulence."

There was a sigh. "Just get us down safely and—"

"Carefully, got it, Mom!" Bumi finished for her before turning back to an annoyed-looking Tenzin.

"Just cut out the fancy words and use left and right, okay?"

"Fine. Forgive _me_ for trying to be professional around here," he said, sounding miffed.

Thankfully, Bumi's "weird airbender instinct connection whatever" idea was true to some point—flying a bison was naturally easier for an airbender. Tenzin soon figured out what to do and they got down with a relatively smooth landing (or as Kya said, "A landing much better than anything Bumi could do.")

Katara stood up. "Thank you again, kids. That was some er . . . exciting flying." Kya, Bumi, and Tenzin exchanged sheepish looks. "Good work, though. I'm sure Dad will be proud of you." She smiled at them.

"Speaking of which, we have to get him inside the house. Kids, could you call some acolytes to help us, please?"

"Okay, Mom!" Kya and Tenzin took off, but Bumi stayed, remembering something.

"Bumi? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" she asked, concerned.

"No," he replied. "But uh, yeah, speaking of acolytes, remember that guy Ling you asked to watch over us? He um, sort of had an accident, and needs to be healed," he said slowly.

"Ling? Wha—"

"He'sunconsciousinthelivingroom buh-bye!" He dashed off.

Katara sighed and shook her head.

* * *

**Oh, Bumi xD**

**Credits to Aang in the episode "Sozin's Comet Part 4: Avatar Aang" for the waterwhip-wrapping-around-someone's-leg/ankle move. He used it on Ozai. :bd**

**Btw, I have no idea when the next update will be. At the latest, it could be sometime around December (a really long time, I know :() I'm really sorry, but rest assured, I _will _finish this story.**

**But anyway, I love RFFs! What do you think of this chap? And just curious, who's your favorite Avatar kid (based on this story) and why? :D**


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